Appendix B: Further Options - Lost Laboratory of Kwalish

Appendix B: Further Options. The wide-open nature of this adventure, the optional setups provided in the "Adventure Length" and "First Things Last" sidebars, and the options in the "Meeting Kwalish" section give you the opportunity to run Lost Laboratory of Kwalish in a number of different ways. But if you'd like to customize this scenario even further, consider any of the following options. The Cartophile The starting point for the adventure has a big impact on establishing the full identity of the Cartophile. In Waterdeep, Anaxi Zephries might be a member of that city's Surveyors', Map-, and Chart-makers' Guild. But if the adventure is tied to Chult and Tomb of Annihilation, he might instead work as a merchant prince in Port Nyanzaru. And either way, no matter how genuinely you portray him, the Cartophile might fall under suspicion by the characters in the manner of so many too-helpful NPCs. You can opt to run with such suspicions by giving the Cartophile a secret agenda. He might be a criminal agent working for the Monastery of the Distressed Body, sending party after adventuring party to become new prisoners of the Grand Master. He might even be a construct sent from the monastery for that purpose-or his body might be such a construct, and the brain in a jar from the monastery's treasury is actually his. As such, the Cartophile wishes to have it returned at all costs, and any hirelings accompanying the party attempt to complete this secret agenda over any others. Even if his goals are legitimate, the Cartophile's desire to trace the original expedition of his ancestors might offer further connections to be developed. If one of the brains in jars belongs to one of those relatives and is provided with a new body (see below), it might return to civilization with the characters. The Cartophile will be keen to meet this ancestor, perhaps leading to a new family business. Or considering that they're both gnomes, perhaps Kwalish is the ancestor the Cartophile sought...